Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

Director:

Russ Meyer

Writers:

Roger Ebert (screenplay)
Roger Ebert (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

17 June 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

This time... they've really gone

Plot:

Three girls come to Hollywood to make it big, but find only sex, drugs and sleaze.

Plot Keywords:

Lesbian | Drugs | Sex | Band | Beheading

Cast

Dolly Read	...	Kelly Mac Namara
Cynthia Myers	...	Casey Anderson
Marcia McBroom	...	Petronella Danforth
John Lazar	...	Ronnie 'Z-Man' Barzell (as John LaZar)
Michael Blodgett	...	Lance Rocke
David Gurian	...	Harris Allsworth
Edy Williams	...	Ashley St. Ives
Erica Gavin	...	Roxanne
Phyllis Davis	...	Susan Lake
Harrison Page	...	Emerson Thorne
Duncan McLeod	...	Porter Hall
James Inglehart	...	Randy Black (as Jim Iglehart)
Charles Napier	...	Baxter Wolfe
Henry Rowland	...	Otto
Princess Livingston	...	Matron
Stan Ross	...	Disciple
Lavelle Roby	...	Vanessa
Angel Ray	...	Girl-in-Tub
Veronica Ericson	...	Blonde Date (as Veronica Erickson)
Haji	...	Cat Woman
Karen Smith	...	Red Head
Sebastian Brook	...	Art Director
Bruce McBroom	...	Photographer (as Bruce V. McBroom)
Ian Sander	...	Boy-in-Tub
Koko Tani	...	Assistant
Samantha Scott	...	Cynthia
Tea Crawford	...	Kathy Page
Heath Jobes	...	Makeup Man
John Logan	...	Escort
Susan Reed	...	Fashion Model
Robin Bach	...	Gay Boy
Ceil Cabot	...	Mother
Mary Carroll	...	Middle Aged Woman
Joseph Cellini	...	Man - Flowered Pants
Jackie Cole	...	First Woman
Frank Corsentino	...	Hippie Boy
Mibb Curry	...	White Haired Gentleman
Coleman Francis	...	Rotund Drunk
Pam Grier	...	Fourth Woman (as Pamela Grier)
T.J. Halligan	...	Science Teacher
Rick Holmes	...	Man with Glasses
Marshall Kent	...	Dr. Downs
Michael Kriss	...	Young actor
Tim Laurie	...	Second Gay Man
Bebe Louie	...	Hippie Girl
Lillian Barb	...	Nurse (as Lillian Martin)
Ashley Phillips	...	Fashion Model
'Big Jack' Provan	...	Father
Joyce Rees	...	Marion Harrisburg
Christopher Riordan	...	Gay Boy (as Chris Riordian)
Bert Santos	...	Taxi Driver
George Stratton	...	Third Gay Man
The Strawberry Alarm Clock	...	Themselves
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Russ Meyer	...	TV cameraman (uncredited)
Garth Pillsbury	...	Man with newspaper (uncredited)
Gordon Wescourt	...	Gordon, TV interviewer (uncredited)

Directed by
Russ Meyer

Writing credits
Roger Ebert		(screenplay)
Roger Ebert		(story) and
Russ Meyer		(story)

Produced by
Red Hershon	....	associate producer
Eve Meyer	....	associate producer
Russ Meyer	....	producer

Original Music by
Stu Phillips

Cinematography by
Fred J. Koenekamp		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Dann Cahn
Dick Wormell

Art Direction by
Arthur Lonergan
Jack Martin Smith

Set Decoration by
Stuart A. Reiss
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
David Hayes

Makeup Department
William Buell	....	makeup artist (as Bill Buell)
Edith Lindon	....	hair stylist
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup supervisor (as Dan Striepeke)
John Chambers	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Norman A. Cook	....	unit production manager (as Norman Cook)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
C.E. Dismukes	....	assistant director
David Hall	....	assistant director

Art Department
Sidney H. Greenwood	....	property master (as Syd Greenwood)

Sound Department
David Bell	....	sound restoration (restored version 2007)
Don Minkler	....	sound
Richard Overton	....	sound

Special Effects by
Jack Harmon	....	special photographic effects
Greg C. Jensen	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Bob Minor	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Lynn Carey	....	vocal coordinator
Igo Kantor	....	music supervisor
William Loose	....	composer: additional music
Robert Simard	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Chris Haynes	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Manny Diez	....	assistant to producer

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1970) (USA) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Magnetic Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• A&M Records  courtesy of ('The Sandpipers' appear)
• De Graff  fashions by (as De Graff of California)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | UK:18 (2003 re-rating, uncut) | UK:X (cut) | France:-16 | Singapore:R21 | West Germany:18 | Australia:R | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | USA:NC-17 (re-rating) (1990) | USA:X | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-18 (2004)

Filming Locations:

Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The character of Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell was based loosely on legendary record producer Phil Spector. While neither Russ Meyer nor Roger Ebert had ever met Spector, they were told by acquaintances of his that they'd caught his essence very well.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the first party scene, Emerson drops a tray carrying multiple bottles of scotch. In next shot, floor is covered with broken glass but no spilled liquid.

Quotes:

Porter Hall: She was living in a single room with three other individuals. One of them was a male, and the other two, well the other two were females. God only knows what they were up to in there... and furthermore, Susan, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that all four of them habitually smoked marijuana cigarettes... reefers.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Yo Gabba Gabba! (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Find It

"Beyond the Valley of the Dolls/In a corner of the sky..."

One of the all-time great cult films, BVD is an energetic, imaginative parody of Valley of the Dolls and other such dippy Hollywood melodramas. Our three lusty, busty heroines are the members of an all-girl pop group. From one trailer: "Dolly Read is Kelly, the singer. Cynthia Myers is Casey, the swinger. Marcia McBroom is Pet, the soul sister." Whoa! Anyway, our trio of sexy supervixens move out to Hollywood, get discovered immediately, and are thrown into a whirlpool of pill addiction, alcoholism, lesbianism, abortions, depression, double crosses, crippling injuries, lots of violence, and lots of sex. All of this is played with a deceptively straight face, with the wild comedy arising from the ludicrousness of the soap-opera situations. One particularly sudsy moment is even accompanied by swelling daytime-TV organ music! There are obvious jokes, which are spirited and very funny, and even some sly references to Valley of the Dolls (a character named Miriam, the Warwick Court Apartments). The ending has to be seen to be believed, and even then....

The acting is very good (though Dolly Read's natural British and fake American accents are openly battling throughout), with top prizes taken by John LaZar as freaked-out record mogul Z-Man and Edy Williams as voracious porno queen Ashley St. Ives. The women, sporting big hair and thick false eyelashes, are all incredibly beautiful, and Russ Meyer lovingly captures them in neon-bright color. The editing and camerawork are fast-paced and super-stylish, as usual with Meyer. The soundtrack is excellent.

A groovy, sexy, X-rated look at L.A. back when it was cool!

Trivia: The reason this X seems so mild is because it was intended for an R! Meyer did prepare a more explicit version, but when this tamer cut was X'd, Fox elected to distribute it instead of the racier print. The video box says NC-17 because Fox has a policy against never releasing an X-rated tape. Of course, an X in 1970 did mean 17 and over, whereas it now means 18 and over. HUGE chasm there!